above some wretched hovels, displaying the curious
proportions of this tribe of palms; namely, first, a short
cone, tapering to one-third the height of the stem, the
trunk then swelling to two-thirds, and again tapering
to the crown.
So little was there to observe, that I again amused
myself by examining footsteps, the precision of which
in the sandy soil was curious. Looking down from the
elephant, I was interested by seeing them all in relief,
instead of depressed, the slanting rays of the sun in
front producing this kind of mirage.
Chorparun, at the top of the Dunwah pass, is situated
on an extended barren flat, 1320 feet above the sea,
and from it the descent from the table-land to the level
of the Soane valley, a little above that of the Ganges
at Patna, is very sudden. • The road is carried zigzag
down a rugged hill, with a descent of nearly 1000 feet
in six miles, of which 600 are exceedingly steep. The
pass is well wooded, with, abundance of bamboo,
Bombax, Cassia, Acacia, and Butea, with Calotropis,
the purple Mudar, a very handsome road-side plant,
which I had not seen before, but which, with the
Argemone Mexicana, was to be a companion for hundreds
of miles farther. All the views in the pass are
very picturesque, though wanting in good foliage, such
as Figs would afford, of which I did not see one tree.
The banyan and peepul always appeared to be planted,
as did the tamarind and mango.
Dunwah, at the foot of the pass, is 620 feet above
the sea, and nearly 1000 below the mean level of the
highland we had been traversing. Every thing bears
Fbb. 1848. WILD PEACOCKS AND JUNGLE FOWL. 27
here a better aspect; the woods at the foot of the hills
afforded many plants; the bamboo (B. stricta) is green
instead of yellow and white; a little castor-oil is cultivated,
and the Indian date (low and stunted) appears
about the cottages.
In the woods I heard and saw the wild peacock for
the first time. Its voice is not to be distinguished from
that of the tame bird in England; a curious instance
of the perpetuation of character under widely different
circumstances, and contrasting with the wild jungle-
fowl, whose crow by no means rivals that of the farmyard
cock.
In the evening we left Dunwah for Barah (alt.
480 feet), passing over very barren soil, covered with
low jungle, the original woods having apparently been
cut for fuel. Our elephant, a timid animal, came on a
drove of camels in the dark by the road-side, and in
his alarm insisted on doing battle, tearing through
the thorny jungle, regardless of the mahout, and still
more of me; the uproar raised by the camel-drivers
was ridiculous, and the danger to my barometer
imminent.
We proceeded on the 11th of February to Sheer -
gotty, where Mr. Williams and his camp were awaiting
our arrival. Wherever cultivation appeared the crops
were tolerably luxuriant, of poppy (which I had not
seen before), sugar-cane, wheat, barley, mustard, rape,
and flax. At a distance a field of poppies looks like a
green lake, studded with white water-lilies. The
houses, too, are better, and have tiled roofs; while, in
such situations, the road is lined with trees.